Proverbs 18:5-8 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 18:5-8, which read,

v.5 - To show partiality to the wicked is not good, nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.

To show partiality or to put a prejudice of one over another and that one is the wicked is not good.  To prefer or show favoritism to those who are wicked, who are not following after God, is not good.  To pass over those who are righteous, who are following after God, is also not good.  To push the righteous out of the way when they are giving you what you need to hear and implement in life through judgment is to your disadvantage.

 v.6 - A fool's lips bring strife, and his mouth calls for blows.

Solomon is giving us some more proverbs about the mouths and lips.  I think there is at least one in every chapter.  The fool's lips bring strife or contention or dispute.  The fool's mouth gets him in trouble to the point of blows or actual fights of strikes.  You can get actually physically hurt being a fool because of what you say.

v.7 - A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

A ruin is to mean that the person comes upon destruction and that destruction is not just physical but also spiritual for it attacks his soul.  The snare is a trap that lures you in with bait to come in for a closer look.  It is the picture of a mouse trap set with peanut butter or a piece of cheese.  The fool's words can not just get him or her actually physically hurt but can also injure his or her soul.

v.8 - The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

The study notes on this verse tells me it is repeated in Proverbs 26:22 and that the Hebrew meaning for dainty morsels means "to swallow greedily."  There is a plate of beautifully decorated desserts in front of you.  They are small in size but they are plentiful on the plate.  They are small so why not have more than one even though they are really rich and you know that one who probably be the right think to do.  They are small you tell yourself again.  It won't matter.  Something so small couldn't do much harm to me and so you take another and then another.  You might end up eating more of those small desserts than if there was a large one on the plate.

The whisperer who is tempting you into his snare is giving you something that seems small and like it wouldn't matter if you did it or said it.  You could probably do it or say it a couple of times and it wouldn't matter.  No one would notice because it is so small and you have made it look good, you have dressed it up, and you have covered your tracks.  Those little actions go deep says the proverb.  They do not go unnoticed and they do not go down without having an affect.  We think little is not much but it is.  Just as we say the little things matter in a positive way, it is also true in a negative way.  The lure is that it is such a small thing that it won't matter but because it is small we tend to do it again and again and again.  Small grows.  Again, remember that the focus of this proverb of the small is on what we say, our words to one another.

If we could take this proverb and put it in the positive to remind ourselves that the small things done for God also go deep and have a great impact upon us and others.  This small act of love that no one sees and that small act of love done because they small and they don't take up too much space in our lives brings about a different result than the fool listening to the whisperer.  God doesn't just whisper but He writes it down so we can read and understand to put His wisdom into practice.  Take time this morning to read the opposite into these proverbs to know how God wants us to respond to glorify Him.  Let's pray.

"Lord, may I take in what the righteous are saying to me.  May I not thrust it aside.  May I watch my lips and my mouth to say things that honor You rather than things that could end up doing damage to myself and others.  May I see how powerful my words can be for good and for bad and to go with the good.  May my small today be for Your glory rather than my small be something that does damage.  Amen."

Pastor Adam